Street letter-box



2 Sheets Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

J. P. LINDSAY.

STREET LETTER BOX.

. Patented Dee. 29, 1891.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. P. LINDSAY.

STREET LETTEE BOX.

No. 465,867. y Patented Deo. 29,1891.

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.duit to convey away dust and water.

UNITED STATES YPATENT OFFICE.

JOHN P. LINDSAY, OF TEST DERBY, VERNON".

STREET LETTER-Box.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 465,867, dated December29, 1891.

Application'iiled March 17, 1891. Serial No. 385.405.

(No model) To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN P. LINDSAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at West Derby, in the county of Orleans and State of Vermont,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in OombinedLetterBoxand Parcel-Receiver; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My present invention relates to combined letter-boxes andparcel-receivers; and it has for its objects to combine in a neat andartistic manner a box adapted to receive letters or first-classmail-matter and another box for receiving newspapers, parcels, andpackages; further, to provide a box so constructed and arranged that theinterior thereof is protected from the entrance of dust and water andprovided with interiorly-arranged operating mechanism for receiving themail and depositing it upon the bottom ot the box and at the same timeeffectually prevent pilfering through the receivingopeningg to provideconvenient means for removing the mail from the box without admittingdust and water, and, finally, to provide an annunciator to indicate theinsertion of a letter and which operates automatically with the interiorprotecting mechanism.

W'ith these ends in view my invention con sists of a mail-box having itssides united by a joint formed of a curved ring and a flange fittedtherein, and these sides are provided in their inner faces with lugs orflanges at or near their upper and lower ends, through which flanges arepassed suitable bolts or screws, which are screwed into the top andbottom, respectively, of the b ox, thus securing all the fasteningdevices inside the box. The front face of the box is provided with alarge opening near the top thereof, which is protected by a projectinghood or cover, and below the receiving-opening is a small con- Abovethis conduit and separating it from the receiving-opening is theperforated receivingplate, which discharges water or dust accumulatingon the surface into the conduit below. Iivoted on the hood or cover isan angular closing-plate operating across the receiving-opening andconduit, and the upper weighted end of the closing-plate is connected bya series of intermediate links and arms with two flaps or tables pivotedon the front and rear sides of the box, respectively, and arranged tolie in the same horizontal plane to form a continuous divided plate orcover across the box when the closing-plate is lifted or opened, saidflaps dropping to a perpendicular position when the plate is closed.

Connected with the upper weighted arm of the closing-plate, or to aconvenient part of the mechanism operating the plates, is a rod or wireadapted tooperate a bell or equivalent, which is located in the upperpart of the box or at a distance inside of the house, and when theclosing-plate is opened this bell is rung, thus announcing to theoccupants of the house that a letter has been deposited in the box.Secured on the face of the box beneath the conduit and protectedtherefrom by a projecting flange is a smaller box adapted to receiveparcels and packages, and thislattcr box is constructed and arranged toconform to the lines of the other box and make asyminetrical attractiveaddition. The lower part of the inail-receiving box is provided with atray hinged near the center and forming a part of the bottom of the box,and said tray has individual sides extending' laterally and operatingwithin the sides of the box, the lines of juncture of this tray with thebox being' protected by flanges, which prevent dirt and water fromgetting inside.

Instead of plates with the sid es of theletter-box, as above mentioned,I contemplate in some cases constructing the top and bottom and sideplates with a dropniolding arranged on the edges and lapping each other,and when joining the top and bottoni tightened by the bolts passingthrough suitable flanges a complete tained.

To enable others to more readily understand my invention, I haveillustrated the and strong box is obsaine in the accompanying drawings,in

which- Figure I is a side elevation of my invention, showing theparcel-box attached to the letter-box. Fig. Il is a sectional elevationtaken centrally through the letter and parcel boxes. Fig. III is asectional elevation on the line os a: of Fig. I, showing the tray. Fig.IV is a sectional view showing the manner of securing the sides and thetop or bottom of the boxes together, and Fig. V is a modified IOO formof construction. Fig. VI is a detail view of the angular lever. Fig. VIIis a sec-l tional view taken transversely through the front portion ofthe tray and showing the construction thereof.

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals of reference denotecorresponding parts in all the figures, 1 designates the primaryletter-box, which is designed to receive letters or other Iirst-classmail-matter. This box is secured to a door or wall by bolts, which areprovided with nuts on one end and a head on the other, the nuts beingalways screwed on the ends of the bolts extending inside the box, whilethe other end is headed. The face-plate of the box is substantially thesame as that described and claimed in an application filed byon me onMarch 4, 1891, Serial No. 383,745, and it is provided with areceiving-opening 2, a conduit-opening 3, and the perforatedreceiving-plate 4 above the conduit. In the present case, however, Iconstruct the stationary parts of the face-plate in one piece, eit-herof cast or sheet metal or wood, and the outwardly and downwardlyextending hood is somewhat different. The top plate 6 of the box extendssomewhat forward of the faceplate and has a vertical piece 6 projectingdownward to form the chamber 7, and there are suitable side piecesjoining the vertical extension 6 and the receiving-plate, which are alsocast with the face-plate. Pivoted in the sides of the chamber 7 is theweighted end of the angular closing-plate 8, the lower angular end ofwhich normally rests on the upper end of the receiving and conduitopenings. Just below the inwardlyextending part of the faceplate, whichforms the base of the conduit, and on the inside of thebox, is pivotallysecured a flap or table 9, which is adapted to extend half-way acrossthe box, and a corresponding iap or table 9 is pivoted opposite theretoon the rear of the box, the pivoted aps or tables being designed toclose lthe opening in the box when elevated to a horizontal position.These flaps or tables are operated by means of two short links 10 10',one of which 410 is loosely connected to the angle of the long angularlever 11 and the other link 10 is connected to the end of said lever.This angular' lever 11 is fulcruined inside the face-plate substantiallyin the same horizontal plane with the pivot of the angular closing-plate8, and the upper ends of this lever 11 and the plate 8 are connectedloosely by a short rod 12, slightly bentJ at an obtuse angle. Thisoperating mechanism for the aps or table is arranged close to one of thesides of the box. the links 10 10 being connected to one end of theflaps or tables, and the short rod 12 is connected at one side of theclosing-plate, so that there is no obstruction in the path of the letterinserted in the box through the receiving-open ing therein. As theclosing-plate 8 is pushed inward and upward the flaps or tables areraised automatically, and they will thus assume a horizontal position inline with each other as the closing-plate is elevated, thus closing thelower part of the box from access through the receiving-opening andprotecting the mail therein. Another and important object of these fiapsor tables is to receive the mail-matter as it is inserted through thereceiving-opening, and when the person withdraws his hand and theclosing-plate drops back into its normal position the iiaps or tablesalso fall or assume a vertical position, and at the same time depositthe mail-matter which rested on the iiaps or tables directly onto thebottom of the box in a flat horizontal position, so that it will take upvery little room.

In the old-style boxes the Vmail is usually deposited in the box andfalls on its end, and when several letters have been dropped in a box bytheir irregular arrangement and the endwise position they assume the boxis almost filled and prevents other mail from being deposited; but in myimproved box the letters fall on the bottom in horizontal positions andpack close together, thus providing a box of medium size adapted to holdalarge quantity of mail.

lIn order to attract the attention of the occupants of the house to thefact that the closing-plate is operated by the deposit of :mail in thebox l, I provide an audible alarm, consisting of a bell 13, which may bearranged in the upper rear corner of the box itself, as shown, or atsome convenient place inside the house, and this bell is connected bymeansof IOO a wire or rod 13 with the upper end of the closing-plate 8or some other movable part of the operating mechanism inside the box, sothat whenever the closing-plate is raised the bell will be rung. This isan additional precaution against pilfering, aswell as announcing thearrival of the mails.

In one side of the lower part of the box is a tray 14, which is hingedat 14 on the bottom of the box, and this tray isprovided with sidepieces 15, arranged to work within the sides 1 of the box, (shown indotted lines in Fig. IIL) and the bottom of the tray forms a part of thebottom of the box. The upper end 15 of the front of the tray is inclinedinwardly at an obtuse angle to the line of the tray and extends underthe side of the box, to which it is secured by any suitable fasteningdevice, and this prevents dust or water from entering the tray or bottomof the box. On the bottom of the box, beneath thehinge, is a downwardly-projecting lugl 16, which limits the downward movement of the tray; butit allows the trayto fall down a sufficient distance to permit easyaccess to the mail contained within the box.

In the ordinary mailboxes, as well as the one herein described, it isdifficult to insert a package or parcel, and as an opening of-a size toadmit parcels would be dangerous to the safety of the mail I obviatethis inconvenience by securingasmaller box 17 on the front IIO or sideof the letter-box, which is adapted to receive packages and parcels toolarge for theV letter-box. This parcel-box 17 is secured to theletter-box by screw-bolts or otherwise, and its upwardly-sloping hingedcover 1S extends a short distance into the conduit 3, and is protectedfrom the dirt and water discharged from said conduit by a flange 1S',projecting from the face-plate of the letterbox. rlhe lower rear end ofthe parcel-box is provided with a rearwardly-extending liange 19,which-bears upward against the bottom of the letter-box, and ascrew-threaded bolt -is passed through said mail-box and secured in theflange to secure the parcel-box in place. This parcel-box is constructedto conform with the lines of the mail-box, and when secured thereto itforms a neat and symmetrical appearance.

In the construction of letterboxes and other boxes of similar character,it is important that all the joints and openingsshould be protected toprevent the admission of dust and water, and also that proper meansshould be employed to prevent evil-disposed persons from removing thebox or taking it apart from the outside. To provide for this,I constructthe sides of the box with projecting curved flanges 20, extending alongits vertical edges, and these are arranged to fit snugly in verticalrecesses 2l on the edges of the front and back of the boya-and by thismeans the box is secured together in rectangular shape. Each side may beprovided with a vertical ring on one edge and a lange on the other; butit is not material how this is arranged, so that the flange fits in therecess snugly. 0n the inner faces of the sides and the front and back,near the upper and lower edges thereof, are small laterally-projectinglugs 22, and these lugs are provided with openings to receive bolts 23,which are screwed into the top and bottom, respectively,'and hold thebox together. By this arrangement and construction access cannot be hadto the bolts, except from the inside of the box, and it is impossible toopen the box or take it apart without unscrewing the bolts from theinside.

In Fig. V,I have shown amoditied form of constructing the box, whichconsists, essentially, in forming a drop-molding 24 on the meeting edgesof the sides and front'and back,

with the top and bottom, which interlap eachn other, and when tightenedby the bolts a complete and tight box is obtained.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportions of parts and detailsof construction can be made without departing from the spirit orsacrificing the advantages of my invention, and I therefore reserve theright to makesuch changes as fall within the scope of my invention.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A letter-box provided with the receivingopening and conduit in itsface-plate, the receiving-plate, an angular closingplate arranged toclose the receivingopening, the iiaps or tables pivotally secured withinthe box and adapted to rise and fall as the closing-plate is operated bysuitable connections therewith, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. A letter-box provided with the receivingopening and conduit in itsface-plate and the receiving-plate, the hood projecting over saidreceiving-opening, the angular closing-plate pivotally secured within aspace formed by the hood, and the flaps or tables pivoted within the boxon opposite sides thereof and adapted to be elevated to a horizontalposition 4when the closing-plate is operated by intermediate connectionswith said closing-plate, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a combined letter-box and parcel-receiver, a hood projecting overthe receivingopening, an angular closing-plate pivotally secured withinthe chamber formed by the hood, the iiaps or tables pivoted within thebox on opposite sides thereof, the angular lever pivoted on one side ofthe box and linked to the tables and the closing-plate to operate thesame simultaneously, and an audible alarm mechanism connected with theangular lever and adapted to be operated when the closing-plate ismoved, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a combined letter-box and parcel-receiver, theletter-box having areceiving-open` ing and a conduit, and the parcel-receiver secured tothe face of said letter-box beneath the conduit by bolts or screwsarranged wholly within said boxes,substantially as described.

5. A letter-box, substantially as described, having its sides, front,and back united by a iiange in the vertical edges, which is arranged tointerlock with a vertical projection on the alternate edges, as and forthe purpose described.

6. A letter-box having its sides, front, and back united at their edgesby vertical flanges, which interlock with vertical curved anges inalternate edges, and the lugs on the inner surface of the box with boltsor screws, by which the top or bottom is secured in place, substantiallyas described.

ICO

IIO

7. In a combined letter-box and parcel-re ceiver, the letter-boxprovided with the receiving-openings and the conduit, the parcelreceiversecured to the letter-box below the conduit and having its coverprojecting into the conduit and hinged therein, and the flange above thehinge to protect t-he same from water f and dirt discharged from theconduit, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. JOI-IN P. LINDSAY.

Witnesses:

ADELAIDE H. LrNDsAY, C. B. Dow.

